Machine for manufacturing spirally wound straws and other tubes



J. BALTON July 17, 1934.

Filed June 22, 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Emm J. BALTON 1,967,171

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING SPIRALLY WOUND STRAWS AND OTHER TUBES Jul 17, 1934.

Filed June 22. 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. BALTON -Iuly 17, 1934.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING SPIRALLY WOUND STRAWS AND OTHER TUBES Filed June 22, 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 James Ba fz wz.

July 17, 1934 J. BALTON 1,967,171 I MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING SPIRALLY WOUND STRAWS AND OTHER TUBES Filed June 22. 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 7 J6 70f d5 "Big- 5. d5 2 a awe/whom y 1934- J. BALTO'N 1,967,171

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING SPIRALLY WOUND STRAWS AND OTHER TUBES Filed June 22, 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 J. BALTON ,967,171

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING SPIRALLY WOUND STRAWS AND OTHER TUBES July 11, 1934.

Filed June 22. 1952 7 Sheets-P511861; .5.

J W V WI F'- l I J 3mm :[Baiiaaa J y 17, 1934- J. BALTON 1,967,171

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING SPIRALLY WOUND STRAWS AND OTHER TUBES I Filed June 22. 1932 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 I z/ w A 1 145 Wes 54 am.

Patented July 17, 1934 UNITED \STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING SPIRALLY WOUND STRAWS AND OTHER TUBES ames Balton, Baltimore, Md., assignor to J osep Shapiro, Baltimore, Md.

Application June 22, 1932, Serial No. 618,759

7 9 Claims.

mandrel and spinning' belt "astto, "decrease the cost of manufacture of machinesmot this character and increase theireflicienc'y operation.

1.) Further, it is an ob 'iectgfto provi'de v a single main drive shaft from which the spinning mechanism and the cutting mechanism are each directly driven. p

Further, it is an object, to. provide a glue pot 1 which may be rigidly mounted on the bed of the machine adjacent the cross headthat carries the spinning mechanism, thezglue pot'having combined with it an improved strip tensioning device, a strip lubricating device, a spinning belt guide and a strip guide, all constituting a single unit which may be assembled as such and placed on or removed from the bed of the machine without disturbing the remaining .mechanisms.

A further object is to improve the mechanism which cuts'the spinning straw as itflisformed into lengths of uniform degree and to provide a cutting mechanism of a simple construction whose cutting blade will not materially, mash or flatten the cut ends of the straw; a cutting mechanism in which the cutting blade may be of water steel and be readily replaceable when worn.

Further, it is an object to provide a cutting mechanism in which the rotation or spinning of the straw is utilized to assist the cutting act in such cooperation with the peculiar cutting blade and the straw guide as to obtain the benefit of both a shear and a wedge cut. 7

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out hereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, the invention still further resides in the novel details of construction, combination 4.5 and arrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully described in the following detailed description, then be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan of the improved machine.

Figure 2 is an elevation thereof, parts being broken away.

- Figure 3 is a detail end elevation of the spin ning mechanism-glue wheel drive. Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section or the cross head and its carried parts, the vertical driving shaft gear being shown in dotted lines. This section is taken on line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of the adjustable cross head slide which carries the driving pulley for the spinning belt.

Figure 6 is a vertical section of the glue pot on the line 6 6 of Figure 8.

Figure 7 is an elevation of the glue pot and the'parts carried thereb i; looking from left to right in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a horizontal section on the line 88 of Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a plan view of the grooved guide plate.

Figure 10 is an elevation of the bridge posts, the bridge plate being shown in dotted lines.

Figure 10a is a perspective view of one of the bridge posts.

Figure 11 is a plan of the tension spring carrying bridge plate with its tension adjusting screws.

Figure 12 is an elevation of the same.

Figure 13 is a detail perspective view of one of the friction blocks.

Figure 14 is a perspective view of the glue wheel scraper plate.

Figure 15 is a vertical longitudinal section of the cutting mechanism unit.

Figure 16 is a plan view of the same with the cover removed.

Figure 17 is a horizontal section on the line 1'7l'7 of Figure 15.

Figure 18 is a vertical section on approximately the line 18-18 of Figure 15.

Figure 19 is a detail vertical section of the cutting device, spindle, etc.

Figure 20 is an enlarged detail view showing the action of the knife blade on the straw.

Figure 21 is a detail perspective view of one of the knife blades.

Figure 22 is a detail horizontal section on the line 22-22 of Figure 23.

Figure 23 is a detail elevation of a portion of the sleeve with a straw in place at the instant the out has been completed.

Zi'igure 24 is a plan of an alternative straw guide device for that shownin Figure 22.

In the drawings in which like numerals of reference designate like parts in all of the figures, 1 represents the machine bed which is supported on suitable legs 2 and is provided with suitable hanger bearings 3 for the main shaft 4, the latter be- I tical driving shaft 11 for the spinning mech- 4 anism, which shaft is driven from the main shaft 4 by bevelled gears 12.

Mounted on the bed 1 and held in place by screw bolts 43 is a cross head 13 having ends 14-15 that are provided with slide guides 16-17 respectively.

On the end 14 is mounted the idler belt pulley cross head slide 18 which is held to slide on the guides 16 and retained in place by plates 19. The cross head slide 18 has a threaded lug 20 through which the adjusting screw 21 is passed. 22 is the idler belt pulley which is mounted on a stub shaft 23 that is carried by the cross head slide 18 and around which pulley 22 and another similar pulley 24 on the driving belt pulley cross head slide 25, the spinning belt 42 passes.

The driving belt pulley cross head slide 25 slides on the cross head guides 17 and is held in place by retaining plates 26. It also has a bearing for the reception of the anti-friction bearing units 30 and 31 and the vertical pulley shaft 27. The cross head slide 25 is also provided with a shaft bearing hanger 28 in which an anti-friction bearing assembly 29 is mounted and through which the spinning mechanism shaft 32' passes.

The end 15 of the cross head is chambered as at 34 and has a removable cap 35 which is provided with a shaft bearing to receive the shaft 32 and the anti-friction bearing assembly 33. There is a cover 36 provided which fits over the cap 35 for a purpose presently understood.

The shaft 27 is driven from the shaft 32 by means of bevelled gears 37-38, the gear 37 being keyed at 39 to the shaft 32 but so arranged as to be slipped along the shaft with the cross head 25, the key being indicated by 40 and the keyl-way by 39.

The cross head slide 25 is also provided with a threaded lug 41 similar in purpose and function to the lug 20 so that by turning the screw 21 the cross head slides may be moved toward or from each other accordingly as the screw is turned in one direction or the other.

44 is a stub shaft journalled in the bracket extension of the cap 35 and having a reduced end 45 for a purpose later explained. The stub shaft also carries a sprocket 46. The sprocket 47 is provided on the shaft 32 and a chain 48 passes around the sprockets 46 and 47 and is tensioned by means of an idler sprocket 49.

50 is the mandrel support which carries the mandrel chuck 51 in which the mandrel 52 is detachably held in the usual way.

It is well known in the art that the pull of the spinning belt tends to bend or deflect the mandrel out of alignment with the horn 138. I therefore mount the mandrel support 50 on the bed 1 by means of a bolt and slot connection 157-158, see Figure 1,'so that the bend given to the mandrel can be compensated and the mandrel held to align with the horn by turning the support 50 slightly in a direction opposite to the belt pull until alignment has been had and then tightening bolts 157 (see dotted lines Figure 1) The glue pot-unit The glue pot unit which constitutes one of the improved features of my machine is best shown in Figures 1, 2 and 6 to 14 inclusive. It consists of a pot or reservoir 53 in which the glue is maintained fluid by means of an electric heater unit 55 located in a chamber 54 in the base of the pot. The pot is provided with a drain passage 56 (nor- 'to the bed of the machine.

The glue wheel 6. is provided and projects somewhat above the top plane of the pot. The pot is also provided with slideways 65 braced by suitable webbing to receive the scraper carrying i slide 68 on which is detachably mounted the glue regulating wheel scraper 66, the latter having bifurcations 67 to straddle the glue wheel and lie in close proximity thereto.

The scraper 66 has that portion which engages the periphery of the glue wheel 64 of substantially the same curvature as the glue wheel so that when the scraper is in the operative position the two engaging surfaces are concentric or, in other words, the opening between the scraper block and 1( the periphery of the glue wheel is of uniform width or thickness over the entire area of engagement. The scraper 66 is secured to the slide 68 by suitable countersunk screws 69.

70 is the slide moving cross bar that is secured at 71 to the slide 68 to lie beneath the same and overhang an outer wall of the glue pot. The slide 70- is bored to pass the slide advancing screw 72 which is threaded into an aperture in the wall of the glue pot and carries a push-out spring 73 that is located between the glue pot wall and the cross bar 70. Thus, as the screw 72 is turned inwardly the slide 68 is advanced with the scraper 66 toward the glue wheel by positive action and, as the screw is reversed, the slide is moved in the opposite direction by means of the spring 73.

The slide is held down on the slideways 65 by a slide hold-down and paper guiding tension plate 74. This plate is secured to the pot by cap screws 79 and is thereby rigidly united with the pot. The plate 74 is provided with paper guide grooves 75 and 76.

Posts 77 to which is secured the tension spring carrying bridge plate 78 through the medium of screws 80, (there being aligning pins 81 and pin *2- holes provided for the usual purposes) are also secured to the pot by screws 79a.

82 and 83 are the leaf tension springs, there being a pair of these springs for each groove. The longer spring 83 has a tension block retaining 13f stop 84 against which the end of the tension block 87 engages. The springs 82 and 83 are secured to the bridge 78 by screws 85 while tension adjusting screws 86 are provided to engage the spring pack in order to adjust the tension of the springs. Each tension block 87 is provided with a felt cover 88 on its under surface between which and the bottom of the respective grooves 75-76 the paper strips pass.

89 is a lubricant cup carried by a bracket 90 14( that is secured to the pot 53, the cup 89 carrying a wick 91. The strip of paper which is to contact with the mandrel is the one that passes over the lubricating wick 91 and only that side which engages the mandrel is wiped by the wick. Thus the straw as it is formed will not stick to the mandrel but will spin freely thereon under the influence of the spinning belt.

A paper strip guide rod socket 92 is provided on the glue pot and has a setscrew 93 for the purpose of securing the guide rod 94, the free end of which overlies the glue wheel 64, the rod 94 being approximately parallel with the shaft 59. The strip of paper which passes over the glue wheel passes under the rod 94 before winding on the mandrel.

95 is a belt guide plate which is pivoted at 96 to the glue pot and is adjustably secured by means of a screw 97 tapped into the glue pot and passed through a slot 98 in the plate 95. The plate 95 carries a pair of spaced pins 99 between which the belt 42 passes. The pins 99 are located close to the mandrel and by adjusting the plate 95 the position of the belt on the mandrel can be brought as close as possible to the glue wheel and its position adjusted to give the most satisfactory results.

Located on the glue pot to lie beneath the rod 94 is a guard plate 100 which is secured by screws 102 that pass through slots 103 in the plate 100 and are tapped into a lug 101 of the glue pot. The guard plate 100 is made to lie close up and almost in contact with the wheel 64 so that should the paper strip break between the glue wheel and the mandrel the strip will not follow around with the glue wheel but will be picked off by the plate 100, thus preventing the paper strip from being fed down into the glue within the glue pot.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the adjustment of the wheel scraper slide is wholly independent of and in no way effects either the adjustment or the position of the tension devices. The tension devices are so fixed that the position of the paper groove through which the paper passes to the glue wheel remains at a constant angle to the glue wheel regardless of what changes in adjustment of the wheel scraper may be made from time to time.

The straw cutting mechanism unit The straw cutting mechanism includes a housing 104 which is securely bolted to the bed 1 of the machine and is provided with a removable cover 105. V

The housing has its base portion provided with a ring gear receiving recess 106 and a turntable receiving counter recess 107, there being a ring gear 108 secured in the recess 106 and a turntable 109 mounted in the base recess 107. The turntable 109-is pinned to and carries the vertical shaft 110 which is mounted in the bed 1 with a suitable anti-friction bearing assembly 111 andis driven from the main shaft 4 by means of bevelled gears 112, see Figure 15. The turntable carries a post 113 which is bifurcated and is provided with cutter shaft bearing bushings 114.

115 is a cutter spindle that has a disk 116 against which'the cutter carrying plate 120 is clamped by means of a clamp disk 117 and a.

clamp screw shaft 118 that is threadingly connected at 119 to the spindle 115. The cutter carrying blade, which may be a disk or simply an arm, carries the cutter blade which, in my present invention, is of a peculiar construction and designed for a very definite purpose and mode of operation. It is bifurcated as at 121 so that it may be adjusted substantially radial on the cutter carrier plate 120 where it is held by means of suitable clamp screws 122, the screws 122 being threaded through the plate and through reinforcing blocks, and the ends so passed are preferably slightly upset so that the screws may be loosened but not wholly withdrawn from the plate, thereby preventing the screws dropping down into the mechanism when it is desired that gagement with it, and the movement of the outting blade as a wedge together with the rotation of the straw effects a very clean out without me.- terially flattening the cut ends of the straw.

The cutter is rotated on its axis by means of a vertical shaft 126 that carries the gear 127 which meshes with the ring gear 108. It also is connected by means of bevelled gears 128 with a horizontal shaft 129 that drives the cutter shaft through the medium of a gear train 130-131.

132 is a turntable gear and cutter protector sleeve which is detachably secured to the post 113, the housing and the sleeve being provided with suitable windows 133 and 134 for access to the clamp screw shaft'118. The sleeve has slots 135 for the passage of the cutter blade.

So far as described it will be noted that rotation of the turntable 109 imparts a movement of the cutter plate 120 about a vertical axis in its own plane and at the same time by virtue of the power transmitting connection 108-126- 127--128-129--l30131 a rotary motion of the plate with the cutter on its own axis is effected. Thus at predetermined intervals the cutter blade is passed through one of the slots 135 and brought into contact with the straws to be out while at the same time moving with the straws so as not to retard its passage through the machine.

The sleeve 132 is provided with a straw guiding annular groove 136, the purpose of which will soon appearv The sleeve is secured to the turntable post by screws 137 as indicated in Figure 18.

138 is the straw receiving horn which ismounted in the socket 139 of the housing 104 and is adjustably secured in place by a setscrew 140, the object being to locate its discharge end as close as possible to the sleeve 132.

Cooperating with the annular straw guide groove 136 is a .roller carrying block 141 that is provided with rollers 142 (which may be concaved if desired) and is secured by a screw 146 to the lug 143 on the inside of the housing 104.

The groove 136 may be made deeper in a vertical direction than the diameter of the straw but is of approximately the same depth in a horizontal direction as the diameter of the straw, the purpose of this being to enable the end of the straw which leaves the horn to enter the groove 136 without catching on the upper or lower portion of the wall. When. however, the straw is to be cut it is advisable, if not absolutely necessary, to provide a means to prevent the straw being bent or deflected from the path of movement, or in other words to provide an anvil against which the straw can be cut. This is accomplished when the groove 136 is of the greater depth mentioned by providing in the groove 136' straw holding plate segments 144 whose ends 145 are bevelled. These plate segments are arranged one at each side of the slot through which the knife is passed in the cutting position so that when the knife comes up under the straw the straw will be lying against the segments 144 and of a newly formed straw to enter without catch- In order that the out 01f section of the straw may not impede the progress of the next section and in order that the cut off section of the straw may be ejected from the machine, I provide a vertical grooved straw guide wheel 147 on a shaft.

148 journalled in a bearing lug 149 in the housing 104. A vertical shaft 150 is journalled in bearings 151 in the housing 104 and is connected with .the shaft 148 by bevelled gears 152. The shaft 150 has a gear 153 which meshes with a master gear 145 keyed to and turned with the shaft 110. Thus the turning of the turntable also effects the turning of the ejecting wheel 147.

The housing 104 may be provided with windows 154 to discharge paper dust or other dust which may tend to accumulate in the housing.

It should be understood that the knife is geared up to turn at a very rapid speed and the movement of the turntable is such that the knife is carried along with the straw at not less than the lineal speed of the straw, while the pulley 147 is preferably turned at a slightly greater speed than that of the straw so that at the very instant the straw length has been fully severed it will be shot from the machine into a suitable receptacle not shown.

In Figure 24 is shown another way to guide the straw which is simpler and less expensive to install and maintain than that shown in Figure 22. It comprises a curved cam-like or curved plate 155 whose portion 156 lies adjacent the sleeve 132 at the outgoing side of the cutting place to act as a finger to steadythe advancing end of the continuous straw after it passes the cutting place after the cut length has been shot from the machine.

While my machine has been particularly designed for the manufacture straws, it is obvious that it may be used to manufacture other spirally wound tubes by simply designing a machine of the proper size to make a tube of a given size.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought the complete construction, operation and advantages of my invention will be clear to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In a tube machine, means for spinning and gluing paper strips into a continuous tube, said means including a mandrel and a spinning belt wound around the same, a glue pot over which said mandrel projects; a glue wheel in the pot over which a paper strip passes to the mandrel, a scraper cooperating with the glue wheel and adjustably mounted on the pot, a strip tension device mounted on the pot and a spinning belt guide device mounted on the pot adjacent the mandrel.

2. In atube machine, a means for spinning and gluing paper strips into a continuous tube, said means including a mandrel and a spinning belt wound around the same, a glue pot over which said mandrel projects, a glue wheel in the pot over which a paper strip passes to the mandrel, a scraper cooperating with the glue wheel and adjustably mounted on the pot, a strip tension device mounted on the pot, said tension device comprising a grooved plate rigidly mounted on the pot and having at .least one paper guide of drinking groove aligning with the glue wheel, an elon gated tension block removably held in 'said groove over the paper strip, and a tension spring for yieldably holding said tension block in place.

3. In a tube machine, means for spinning and gluing paper strips into a continuous tube, said means including a mandrel and a spinning belt wound around the same, a glue pot over which said mandrel'projects, a glue wheel in the pot over which a paper strip passes to the mandrel, a scraper cooperating with the glue wheel and adjustably mounted on the pot, a strip tension device mounted on the pot, said tension device comprising a grooved plate rigidly mounted on the pot and having at least one paper guide groove aligning with the glue wheel, an elongated block held in said groove over the paper strip, and a tension spring for yieldably holding said tension block in place, said block lying loosely in said groove and said spring having a stop overlying one edge of the block to hold it from following the movement of the paper strip.

4. In a tube machine, means for spinning and gluing paper strips into a continuous tube, said means including a mandrel and a spinning belt wound around the same, a glue pot over which said mandrel projects, a glue wheel in the pot over which a paper strip passes to the mandrel, a scraper cooperating with the glue wheel and adjustably mounted on the pot, a. strip tension device mounted on the pot and a spinning belt guide device mounted on the pot adjacent the mandrel, and a strip lubricating device mounted on the glue pot to cooperate with a second paper strip.

5. In a tube machine, 11 :ans for spinning and gluing paper strips into a continuous tube, said means includinga mandrel and a spinning belt wound around the same, a glue pot over which said mandrel projects, a glue wheel in the pot over which a paper strip passes to the mandrel, a scraper cooperating with the glue wheel and adjustably mounted on the pot, a strip tension device mounted on the pot, said tension device comprising a grooved plate rigidly mounted on the pot and having at least onepaper'guide groove aligning with the glue wheel, a tension block held in said groove over the paper strip, and a ten-- sion spring for yieldably holding said tension block in place, and a strip lubricating device mounted on the glue pot tocooperate with a second paper strip.

6. In a tube machine, mechanism for spinning paper strips into a continuous tube, means for applying glue to the paper strips as they are being spun, said means including a glue pot comprising an open-top body, a glue wheel and shaft journalled in bearings in said pot, said pot having horizontal slide-ways open at the top, a glue regulating wheel scraper which includes a slide plate that is held on said ways for movement toward and from the wheel, a tension device comprising a grooved plate secured to the pot rigidly and overlying said slide plate to hold it down in its ways, said device including a bridge member mounted on the pot, over said grooved plate, leaf springs secured to said bridgemember to overlie the grooves of saidgrooved plate and means to advance and retract said scraper slide plate without disturbing the position of said tension device.

7. In a tube machine, mechanism for spinning paper strips into a continuous tube, means for applying glue to the paper strips as they are being spun, said means including a glue pot comprising an open-top body, a glue wheel and shaft journalled in bearings in said pot, said pot having horizontal slide-ways open at the top, a glue regulating wheel scraper which includes a slide plate that is held on said ways for movement toward and from the wheel, a tension device comprising a grooved plate secured to the pot rigidly and overlying said slide plate to hold it down in its ways, said device including a bridge member mounted on the pot over said grooved plate, leaf springs secured to said bridge member to overlie the grooves of said grooved plate and means to advance and retract said scraper slide plate without disturbing the position of said tension device, said last named means comprising a member secured to the slide plate to overhang a wall of the pot, a screw passing through said overhanging member and threaded into the pot, and a spring betwen said overhanging member and the adjacent wall of the pot.

8. In a tube machine, mechanism for spinning paper strips into a continuous tube, means for applying glue to the paper'strips as they are being spun, said means including a glue pot comprising an open-top body, a glue wheel and shaft iournailed in bearings in said pot, said pot having horizontal slide-ways open at the top, a glue regulating wheel scraper which includes a slide plate that is held on said ways for movement toward and from the wheel, a tension device comprising a grooved plate secured to the pot rigidly and overlying said slide plate to hold it down in its ways, said device including a bridge member mounted on the pot over said grooved plate, leaf springs secured to said bridge member to overlie the grooves of said grooved plate and means to advance and retract said scraper slide plate, without disturbing the position of said tension device, a plate secured to the pot on the side opposite that having the slide and cooperating with said wheel, and a paper guide rod carried by the pot and overlying said last named plate, under which rod and over which plate the glued strip of paper passes.

9, In a tube machine, mechanism for spinning and gluing paper strips into a continuous tube, including a mandrel and a spinning the same, a glue pot over which said mandrel projects, a glue wheel in the pot over which a paper strip passes to the mandrel, a scraper cooperating with the glue wheel and adjustably mounted on the pot, a strip ten sion device mounted on the pot and a spinning belt guide device mounted on the pot adjacent the mandrel, and a strip lubricating device mounted on the glue pot to cooperate with a second paper strip, said lubricating device comprising an oil cup and a wick therein over which wick a second strip passes in contact therewith.

JAMES BALTON. 

